Idaho Water Supply Outlook IDWR State Water Supply Meeting Jan 12, 2012 Current Conditions & New Normals Maybe new normals also means new peaks and new lows

Today’s Snowpack are ONLY % of Seasonal Peaks that occur in early April

February Precipitation is starting the same as January…. Feb about 10% of normal February precipitation has falling so far February 1-9 Precipitation as % of Normal

January Precipitation for Individual Basins % of Average Wood & Lost Big Wood 110 Camas143 Little Wood99 Big Lost88 Little Lost74 Birch60 Medicine Lodge, Beaver, Camas57 Southside Snake River Basins Raft175 Oakley204 Salmon Falls150 Bruneau133 Owyhee160 Basin wide average 97% Basin wide average 161%

Southern Idaho Record High January Precipitation Amounts for Selected Sites Daily Data Starts in 1982 (inches) NewPrevious RecordRecordMaximum JanuaryJanuaryMonthly SNOTEL Site Amount Bostetter R.S Dec 1997 Magic Mountain Nov 1989 Howell Canyon Dec th highest January amount since 1982

Hourly Graham Guard Station Temperature Data Showing Temperature Swings Feb 1 - Feb 8, 2012 Note cloud cover moved in about 10pm Tuesday night on Feb 7 Lower elevation sites in Interior West, a diurnal change of >60F occurs once every 25 to 50 years. At SNOTEL sites, this might occur more frequently because of high albedo of sun off snow and clear nights with some drainage of dense cold air. SNOTEL site report date Max deg- C Min deg- C Max deg- F Min deg- FDiff SNAKE RIVER STATION, WY2/7/ GRAHAM GUARD STA., ID2/7/ Feb 1 - Feb 8, 2012 Note cloud cover moved in about 10pm Tuesday night on Feb 7

But good news is from last year

Frozen Big Lost January 2012 Dry Big Lost River Summer of 200?

End of Month Reservoir Storage as % of Average Spring Precipitation

Average or Better Flows since 2009

Little Lost Basin Dry Creek Basin June 30, 2010 Dry Creek’s dry river channel August 25, 2009

33% chance to return to normal snow by April 1 based on 6 out of 18 years with below normal snow on Jan 1 that returned to average by April 1

New Normals For Water Year 2013 Based on Period Drop those Wet 1970s & Add the Dry 2000s Snow Water Equivalent will be a Median Medians use daily data and are not smooth May be Normal means new peaks and new lows in the future….. or do we just have more data and faster computers

NEW! SNOTEL 30-Year Normals Now Available from 30 Year Average Web Page Please read the implementation information, the operational use of the new normals will start in October of Monthly Normals, Idaho Data Collection Area Onlyimplementation information

Deadwood Summit 23.6 SWE Feb 8, % of Peak 59% of Median Peak

9.1 inches of snow water in 10 days

Lewis Lake Divide SWE Feb 8, ” 53% of Peak 64% of Median Peak

Bear

Wood-Lost Upper Snake

Little Lost’s Dry Creek Basin June 30, 2010 Dry Creek’s dry river channel August 25, 2009 Questions/ Comments